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5/31/2017

The European Commission has published a Communication “School development and excellent
teaching for a great start in life” just 2 days before the
world celebrates the Global Day of Parents on 1 June. While the United Nations
dedicates International Days to and puts enormous effort in families, the
European Commission has taken a huge step backwards from its 2016 policy
messages on transforming schools to achieve the EU2020 headline target for
reducing early school leaving, and instead of acknowledging students
and parents as key change-makers, it focuses on trying to impose a system on
them, on us. Parents have been committed to offer the best possible education
to their children – as individuals and through their representative
organisations -, but being solely responsible for the education of their children
it is their, our minimum demand to be involved in decisions on how education
systems supporting us in our role as primary educators should be shaped for
better outcomes. We are committed to school development and excellent teaching,
ready to contribute to their development, but we, parents are the ones to
provide a great start in life. We are aware that some parents need support in
that, and have worked for parental empowerment. School development must go hand
in hand with parental empowerment, professionals and parents need to cooperate
to really serve our children. Investing in education must mean investing in
parents as much as it means investing in schools.

5/28/2017

The European Parents’ Association has
conducted a survey among national parents’ associations to be able to present
the view of the largest group of European educators, parents and responsibly participate
at the public consultation by the European Commission as part of the mid-term review
of the Erasmus+ programme. In the survey, we have asked questions about
content, procedure and future expectations, experiences of successful and
unsuccessful applicants alike, as well as organisations that have decided to
stay away from the programme and not apply.

5/26/2017

The
Regional Meeting of the New Education Forum 2017 was held on 23 May in Turin at
the UniManagement Training Center of Unicredit, sponsor of the initiative. The
seminar entitled "Enhancing the European Labour Market" was held in
the beautiful multimedia room Agorà. The seminar has developed the various
aspects of training of young Europeans with particular emphasis on the
relevance of Vocational Education not intended as second choice, alternative
for those who are unable to support a high school or technical education. As a
primary answer to some of today's job market needs. But above all as a concrete
opportunity for young people to enter the labour market. EPA representing the
parents responsible for the education of their children was represented by
Claudio Masotti, Vice President.

5/17/2017

Guest contribution by the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission

Happy Onlife is an edutainment (education+entertainment) toolkit
conceived by the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission
promoting a safe and responsible use of internet among children and adults. It
is also used to raise awareness on online safety risks for privacy, cyber
security and cyberbullying. It is available as paper version (EN, IT) and
digital application for mobile and web platforms (EN, FR, IT, NL, ES). Happy
Onlife is also mobile and is available for iOS, Android and Windows Smartphoneshttps://web.jrc.ec.europa.eu/happyonlife/index.html. JRC is now inviting parents’ associations to try the
toolkit, to promote it and contribute to its further development. The contents
of the toolkit are very much in line with EPA’s point of view on internet use,
to raise awareness rather than restrict and create anxiety.

5/15/2017

International Day of Families 2017

The
International Day of Families is held on 15 May every year. This year the
United Nations has decided to focus on parents as the primary educators of
their children. The message of the year does not only acknowledge parents as
educators and emphasise the crucial role parents play in the education of their
children, but also calls the attention of policy makers to the importance of
empowering parents as well as offering them conditions for balancing work and
family life. The European Parents’ Association has been advocating exactly for
this for more than 30 years and this was also why we fostered the establishment
of the International Parents Network, a global network of people – parents and
non-parents alike – who wish to act for parents and with parents to ensure
parents’ rights for the best interest of the child. Parent activist all over
the world warmly welcome the official message of the UN highlighting the “vital role of
parents in safeguarding good quality education starting with early childhood
and extending throughout their children’s and grandchildren’s lifespan”.

5/09/2017

EPA Position Paper on the Revision of the 2006 Key Competences Framework

The European Commission is currently holding a public consultation on the revision of the 2006 Key Competences Framework. While the key competences approach is key to transforming European education systems fundamentally to answer the needs of the present and the future, the experiences and changes of the past 11 years require a radical revision of the current Framework. The most important changes we would suggest are structural ones, going beyond renaming or reorganising current chapters. To show the cross-sectoral complexity of key competences and to underline the need to have a holistic approach to education a matrix structure would be more suitable than the current list format.

5/07/2017

Our
Erasmus+ project SEQUENCES on quality assurance in the early childhood sector made
it possible for EPA Vice President Arja Krauchenberg and our ECEC expert,
Ljiljana Vasic to participate at a study visit to Dublin between 25th and 29th
April. Read Arja’s detailed and informative report below.

5/03/2017

Just a few
days before the European Commission published its (hopefully) first package on
the Social Pillar of the European Union, parents from
18 different European countries gathered in Paphos, Cyprus for the conference
of EPA (European Parents’ Association) on
‘A More Socially Just Europe for Children and Parents?!’ on 22-24 April. The
event was the opportunity to launch a major EPA position paper on The Best Interest of the Young Child, and participants also built their
vision of a socially just Europe in interactive plenary and workshop sessions.

The Best
Interest of the Young Child paper on early childhood education needs and
provisions from a parents’ perspective is a result of a Europe-wide
consultation and based on the widest possible consensus of national parents’
association from Nordic to Southern countries.

5/01/2017

Cedefop is hosting a photo story competition to promote vocational education and its attractiveness. Your child and their mates can enter by producing a series of photographs which will showcase their collective
experience in the world of VET. The winners will be announced during the Vocational Skills Week, 24 November, in Brussels. The European Commission,
resolute in its mission to showcase the numerous opportunities that Vocational
Education and Training (VET) can provide for young people and adults to
"discover their talents" and develop specific skills and knowledge
for the jobs of today and tomorrow, is organising the 2nd European Vocational
Skills Week on 20 to 24 November 2017. One of the activities to showcase
excellence in VET is the #CedefopPhotoAward, an international competition run
by the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop) –
an agency of the European Union. Deadline for submitting your photos is 15 July. More information on the CEDEFOP website here.

European Parents' Association

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